This blogpost has been long overdue, and reason being that procrastination is one of my many talents. I visited Seoul with my family in April 2016, and prior to this I never really got the hype about South Korea or the hallyu (korean wave). We flew overnight via AirAsia X and my first impression upon boarding the plane was like whoa, they're playing K-pop on the plane. Big Bang's SOBER (HAHAHAH I STILL REMEMBER!!!)

Guess what?

I became a full-fledged Korean freak after coming back from Seoul!!

Seriously, I fell in love with the place. The culture is so unique, the people there all look and dress SO good! The architecture, the modernity as well as the traditionalism. The K-hiphop they were playing in Hongdae, the night scene, the food, the K-pop blasting from every shop I went into. I really immersed myself into the K-scene and became such a fan when I was there, and up till this day I love all things Korean. I even went through this phase where I was learning hangul by myself.

Readers' discretion: this is gonna be a super photo-heavy post! But I really just want to showcase the beauty of Seoul that's why I included so many photos.

Dongdaemun동대문

How to get there? Take the subway and get off at Dongdaemun or Dongdaemun Design Plaza. They're both within walking distance from one another.

Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) is home to a variety of art exhibitions and events ongoing in Seoul. It plays host to the famous Seoul Fashion Week as well. Come out from an exit outside the DDP and you'll be right in the middle of the Dongdaemun district, also known as shopping haven as the shops open till about 5am in the morning! There was this one night when I went off by myself till about 3am to explore the malls in the area. (and got lost, luckily I found some locals who spoke Mandarin, thank god)

Garusol Gil, Gangnam 가로수길

How to get there?
Take the Korail Subway to Sinsa Station, walk for about 10 minutes and you should be in the Garusol Gil area. Honestly I didn't know where I was walking, I was just going around aimlessly. How to know you're there? When you see trendy cafes and shops, and a lot of well dressed young people.

I can't decide which area of Seoul I love the most but this is definitely on the list! I won't ruin it for you as it's better to experience all these things yourself without knowing what to expect but do expect to be fascinated by all the cool decor each and every cafe has.

Also, Gangnam is the plastic surgery central of Seoul so the streets are lined up with plastic surgery clinics! If you wanna look like an SNSD lookalike, just drop by it's so simple.

One of my favorite Korean dishes, Japchae!!

Myeong-Dong Shopping District 명동

How To Get There?

Subway Myeong-Dong Station, there are multiple exits but most of them would lead you to this shopping street

A skincare lover's heaven, we all know South Korea is famous for its skin and makeup products, and Koreans for their coveted dewy smooth and bright skin! This shopping district itself has countless amounts of skincare and makeup shops, missed the Nature Republic that you just passed by? Don't worry, there'll be another one down the street! It's really hard to practice self control here as they put the best deals outside or in the shop window.

My advice: if you do visit Myeong Dong, do stock up on your skincare products as they're a fraction of the price here, obviously because that's where they originated from. Prior to visiting Seoul, I headed to Pavilion's The Face Shop to check out the price of a moisturizer and it was a hefty RM150. However when I was in Seoul I managed to buy it for RM54!! Almost RM100 cheaper, what a steal! Face masks are also dirt cheap, going for around RM1-2 per sheet mask (if you buy in bulk), compared to the RM4-5 we have to pay back home. Managed to score a concealer from Missha for RM10ish as well. Where else can you find such affordable skincare and cosmetic products?!

Ehwa Women's University 이화여자대학교

How to get there? Take the subway straight to the Ehwa Women's University station. Walk for about 5 minutes and you should see the university gates.

If this was my university I'd want to go to class every single day including the weekends. I've never seen such an immaculate and beautiful campus, and the buildings remind me of Harry Potter in the sense that it's done up super British style. Just walking around the campus grounds can take up a good couple of hours because there's always pretty sights to see.

Outside the university grounds are rows and rows of shops catering to the general crowd here, students. Therefore expect cheaper prices and if you want to shop, definitely come here (though clothing in Seoul isn't very cheap, or maybe it's the fact that I get all my shit from China where it's dirt cheap).ALSO THERE WAS A CUTE OLD UNCLE ON HIS TRUCK SELLING KOREAN STRAWBERRIES. THESE ARE THE BEST AND SWEETEST AND LARGEST STRAWBERRIES I'VE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE. DO BUY THEM FROM HIM!!! HE'S NEARBY THE SUBWAY STATION ENTRANCE.

How to get there? Okay honestly we just took a cab there (it's cheaper if you're in a group) but I googled and it says to get off at Anguk Station!

Bukchon Hanok Village was one of my favorite places to visit in Seoul. When I'm in another country, I don't just like staying in the city district, I'd love to know more about their culture and traditions as well. Bukchon means 'north village' in Korean, and the whole area is lined up with traditional houses that still preserve the beautiful heritage of Korea. There's cultural centres, tea houses, homestays and traditional restaurants as well. If you want to experience traditional Korean culture, come here.

P.S be sure to keep your noise level down to a minimum as people do live here as well and you'll be passing by their houses and I'm pretty sure they would like their peace and privacy.

Gyeongbokgung Palace 경복궁Honestly we just walked from Bukchon Hanok! It's around the same area.

Gyeongbokgung is the most famous palace in Seoul, and you definitely have to hit this place up when you're there. This palace is huge, and takes a few hours to explore, so save half a day and take your time to enjoy the sights offered here. The famous changing of the palace guards takes place here as well at specific timings (10am, 1pm and 3pm to be exact), and there are guided tours as well. Unfortunately we didn't get to experience either but that's alright, walking around the palace grounds was an amazing experience as it is already.

It was Spring when I was in Seoul and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom! Doesn't get any more Korean than this

Operating HoursNovember - February 0900-1700

March-May 0900-1800

June-August 0900-1830

September-October 0900-1800

Last admission: 1 hour before closing

Admission Fees

International Visitors

Adults (age 19-64): 3,000 won (around RM12)

Children (ages 7-18): 1,500 won (around RM6)

Changyeonggung Palace 창경궁

Changyeonggung isn't as popular as the other palaces in Seoul, and it's a shame that people normally don't know or hear of this place because it's super unique, one of the reasons being that it hosts an European styled greenhouse built in 1909. According to Google, it served as a residential area for the queens and concubines (side hoes) There's a variety of greenery in the greenhouse, and Changyeonggung exudes a more homely vibe to it, probably because it's mainly residential.

How to get there? You have to enter Changyeonggung through another palace, Changdeokgung. Therefore you would have to purchase two entrance tickets. Get off at the Anguk station.

Closed Every MondayOperating Hours Feb-May, Sep-Oct 09:00-18:00Jun-Aug 09:00-18:30Nov-Jan 09:00-17:30※ Last admission is one hour before closing.

Admission Fees

[International Visitors] Adults (ages 19 and more): Individual 1,000 won Children and Teenagers (ages 7-18): 500 won Children under age 6: Free

This cute old uncle was sweeping the leaves into a heart shape omg

Nami Island 남이섬 종합휴양지

Nami Island is for sure one of the top spots to visit whenever you're in South Korea. Located about an hour away from Seoul, it's where the locals and tourists alike come for a day trip. Nami Island never looks the same throughout the seasons, and it's always a beautiful sight to behold. When I was there, it was spring and there were cherry blossoms and flowers blooming wherever we walked. I've seen photos on Google and in the autumn, Nami Island is a lush curtain of yellow, crimson and brown, and in the winter it's decked in snow and equally as beautiful. Oh, and Winter Sonata was filmed here as well! There are tons of landmarks in Nami Island depicting the filming.

How to get there? It's kind of tricky since you have to transit quite a few times. Take the subway to Yongsan station, then hop onto the ITX train to get to Gapyeong station.

From the Gapyeong station, there will be a bunch of buses, take the "Gapyeong Tour Bus" and get off at Nami Island station. It's usually where everyone gets off. And then you have to buy your tickets to get on the ferry which will then transport you to Nami Island. If you're a baller and you have cash to blow, there's another alternative to get there from the jetty and it's by zipline! Which is super cool and exhilarating but also super expensive.

It was kind of a nightmare for us because we didn't know that the ITX tickets had to be bought in advance. (It's similar to KTM, you buy the tickets beforehand), my stupid ass thought it was just tap and go. So be sure to buy your tickets beforehand. We managed to get some tickets but they weren't seating tickets so we either had to stand or sit on the floor of the train.

* Special rate is applicable to:- Babies (ages 3) to elementary school student, Groups of infants (under ages 3 years old)- People purchasing late admission (Dec-Mar: Ticketing after 18:10 (visitors using the ferry at 18:30) / Apr-Nov: Ticketing after 19:10 (visitors using the ferry at 19:30)

* Free admissionA guide of a travel agency with group visitors / Babies (under 36 months) when accompanied by parents

Wtf

What in the actual fuck haha

Super love the paintings on the French plates!

Petite France 쁘띠프랑스

How to get there? Remember the tour bus I told you guys about that you can get to Nami Island with? Well, Petite France is one of the stops as well so you can get there pretty easily as it's within the same bus line. It's located about 10km away from Nami Island so schedule this into your day trip to Nami Island as well.

If you're familiar with Colmar Tropicale, the French village in Bukit Tinggi, Malaysia, Petite France holds kind of a similar concept, except I feel that it's more elaborate and done up here. They've filmed a couple of K-dramas here as well. It's filled with quaint little houses with beautiful French interior decoration, and as well as France's iconic vintage marionettes! They get kind of creepy to look at, I blame the amount of horror movies that I watch with killer dolls. However I was super intrigued as they got all of them from France itself and I love reading up on history and viewing artifacts! If you have a phobia of clowns and marionettes, you probably wanna avoid the displays. There's a main stage in the middle of Petite France where they have different types of performances, including some marionette dances.

Honestly speaking if you're in Seoul and want to visit some theme parks, don't even bother with Lotte World. Everland is so much bigger, grander and there's so much more to see! Best part is that it's outdoors so you really get to enjoy the cold weather. Hailing from a super hot and humid country, this is solace in itself.

Don't expect crazy rides here, the rides are pretty mild and suitable for children. Everywhere I walked here I was just in awe at how well they did it up! The landscaping is awesome, and everything is just so dainty and cute here. They even have a petting zoo and a freaking safari! I was super excited about the safari (yeah, I'm just a 5 year old at heart). Being a city girl, I don't really get to see much wildlife and I was really in awe after seeing all the wild animals. Dude I saw a freaking bear performing tricks! As well as a polar bear! Alright sorry please excuse me haha. Also, they have alpacas at the petting zoo!!!!! And there was supposed to be a panda enclosure but it wasn't open yet when I was there. Right, I'm going off again.

I think my phone battery was close to dying so I didn't really get that many photos of the rides, etc.

How to get here? We took some sort of shuttle bus from DDP (we stayed in Dongdaemun), which brought us to another terminal where we had to switch buses!

If you see closely on the bottom right, it's a caricature of Jenn Im! She actually featured this on her Instagram page before as well.

This playground would be awesome for photoshoots

Please try this steamed egg bun thingy if you see it on the streets!

Hongdae 홍대

Saved the best and my favorite location for the last!!

How to get here? Get off at the Hongik University Station

On one of our last days in Seoul, I woke up late and my whole family just disappeared. (I guess they didn't want to wait one hour for me to get ready), so it was just me by myself and I decided to head off to the urban area, Hongdae, and spent one whole day there. Hongdae is simply amazing, there's young people everywhere, street performances, sneaker shops, the coolest clothing shops, street food and I even stumbled upon this art market where local artisans showcase their work.

When I visit Seoul again, hopefully it would be with my friends because I heard that Hongdae has a dope nightlife scene and I would really love to experience that. You know you can't really do those kinds of things when you're with your parents, duh. I noted that Hongdae is a super livable place as well, so if you're planning a trip to Seoul and want to stay somewhere happening yet exudes a sort of urban hipster vibe, Hongdae is the place to be.

I'm sure most of you fashion lovers know of Stylenanda! Their flagship store is here and it's massive! There's even a photobooth that prints out free photos for you. The lighting in there isn't great though, I ended up looking like a deformed potato. One place you definitely have to stop by is the Haitaro Butter Chips store! Trust me, you have to try this snack. Get the peanuts, they're a lot nicer than the chips.

These are fucking amazeballs.

Alright so I'm really glad I finally completed this long overdue blogpost! Hope this helps you guys in planning your itinerary and I really wish this provides a comprehensive explanation of the main places I visited in Seoul! Can't wait to be back!

ABOUT

Camillia Lim, 21, Kuala Lumpur.

Your not-so-average girl next door with big city dreams whose tomboy side emerges way too often. An aspiring PR exec/journalist. Thought-provoking conversations, future bass, hip-hop & R&B, taking nice photographs, discovering more about people, a palate for good (& preferably cheap!) food, a productive sweat sesh, jetsetting all over the world, and scoring steals on clothes makes me happy. I spend way too much time laughing at memes to myself than I should. I don't think a small column like this is enough to get to know me so why don't you read on!